Maya’s Bat Mitzvah | Second Shooting a Milestone Celebration

It's always an honor to be part of a milestone this significant.

Back in April, I had the privilege of second shooting Maya's Bat Mitzvah alongside the talented Darcy Sherman of Sassafras Pictures. Together we documented a beautiful, joyful celebration marking a major milestone in Maya's life and her family's. These events carry such layered emotion: the ceremony itself holds deep spiritual significance, and the celebration that follows is pure, unfiltered joy.

Second shooting gives me the opportunity to work collaboratively and capture the fuller picture, candid moments, details, and reactions from different angles. I'm grateful for the chance to work alongside another talented photographer and be part of such a meaningful day.

Mazel tov, Maya. What a beautiful day to document.

Rachel’s 40th | A Birthday Party Worth Celebrating

Forty Deserves a Photographer

On May 2nd, I had a blast shooting a birthday party for a friend's daughter turning 40, and let me tell you, this crew knew how to celebrate. The theme was "sexy widowed Italian lady mourning the death of her 30s," complete with karaoke and a sushi spread. Event photography is a different energy than portraits or weddings. It's fast, it's candid, and the goal is to capture the feeling of the room: the laughter, the toasts, the moments people don't even realize are happening.

These are the photos that end up framed on walls and sent in group texts. They're the ones that say we were there, and it was a great night.

Happy 40th, Rachel!

A Colorado Road Trip | Abbott Church in Lindon

Sometimes the best shots come from just getting in the car and seeing where the road takes you.

Over Memorial Day weekend, I took a little road trip out to Abbott Church in Lindon, Colorado, a small, tucked-away gem that not many people have on their radar. There's something about old churches and wide-open rural landscapes that just photographs beautifully. The quiet, the texture, the history: it all comes together in a way that feels both peaceful and dramatic depending on the light.

This kind of personal creative exploration is something I try to build into my schedule whenever I can. Discovering new locations keeps my eye sharp and my creativity fresh, and honestly, it's just fun.

Colorado continues to surprise me with hidden spots worth stopping for.

Why You'll See the Same Faces in My Portfolio

If you've spent any time scrolling through my galleries, you may have noticed something: a few faces keep showing up, at different ages, in different seasons, over and over again. There's a reason for that.

Client privacy matters to me, a lot. Not every family who books me wants their images used publicly, and I respect that completely. It means my portfolio doesn't always reflect the full range of work I do, since much of it remains private between the people I photograph and me.

So who fills in the gaps? My own family, and sometimes the people who love them too.

I'm a proud mom and a proud sister, and both sides of my family have become some of my most consistent subjects over the years. My sister's boys show up from their very first days as newborns, tiny and wrapped up, all the way through toddlerhood exploring train tracks and grassy parks, into their teenage years in suits and dress shirts, taller than her now in the family portraits. I've photographed them in Arizona's desert light more than once, watching them grow up one session at a time.

My own kids are all over my portfolio too, senior portraits in the golden light of fall, prom photos by the water, graduation day at Colorado School of Mines. And since teenagers rarely show up to these things alone, you'll occasionally spot their friends in the frame as well, another prom date, another graduate walking the same lawn.

Photographing your own family and the people orbiting around them comes with a kind of freedom that client work doesn't always allow. I can experiment more, try a new pose or a different light setup, and post the results without worrying about anyone's privacy. It also means you're seeing something a little more personal than a typical portfolio: real growth, real years passing, real relationships, not just staged sessions.

So if you notice the same handful of people showing up again and again across a decade of images, now you know why. They're not clients. They're the people I love most, and the friends who tagged along, generously letting me point a camera at them for years, so that everyone else gets to see what I'm capable of.

Emily Graduates | Colorado School of Mines & A New Chapter in Wyoming

Watching your child walk across that stage hits differently than you expect.

This past May, my daughter Emily graduated from Colorado School of Mines, and I'm one proud mom. Mines is no small accomplishment. It's one of the most rigorous engineering schools in the country, and she earned every bit of that degree.

She's now packing up and heading to Wyoming to begin her career, and while that's a lot of change all at once, she is absolutely ready for it. These photos capture her right in the middle of that transition, accomplished, confident, and stepping into what's next.

Grad sessions are always a joy to shoot, and this one was extra meaningful. These are the images she'll look back on decades from now and remember exactly how it felt.

Congratulations, Emily. I couldn't be more proud.